Having completed his time with the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association executive board, most recently as Senior Past Chair, Mike Stollery is encouraging dealers throughout the country to become more actively involved for the greater good of the industry.
Stollery, Founder and Chairman of AutoIQ Dealership Group, which has 18 dealerships in Central and Southern Ontario representing 14 brands, was honoured Wednesday night at a tribute dinner in Toronto in recognition of his timeless contributions to the CADA.
Stollery preferred not to talk about himself and the award and what the tribute meant to him, but rather the importance of dealers participating in the CADA.
“It’s up to all of us to keep our industry strong and viable,” he told Canadian auto dealer. “We do have to have difficult conversations with the manufacturers, but we do have to work with them to figure out the best future for them and us. That’s the message for all dealers because too many dealers are just leaving it up to someone else and they really need to get involved.”
Stollery began as the Ontario representative for the CADA Board six years ago, essentially spending the first three years learning and doing different roles, leading up to becoming Chair three years later. He did it in 2020, which happened to be one of the most difficult times for all dealers because of COVID-19 and the limitations it placed on them with safety restrictions and operating financially.
“That was a challenging year,” said Stollery. “I was set to travel across the country to each province, to all the associations, and one at a time they just fell off the calendar as you can imagine with COVID, so all of our focus turned to keeping people in the dealerships safe and yet keeping dealerships financially alive and doing okay.
“The CADA had the curtain pulled back in 2020 and all the dealers really understood what Tim Reuss and Tim Ryan and Huw Williams and that whole team does. When Huw Williams was in Ottawa in what was the beginning of the whole pandemic and our dealers weren’t going to be involved in Canadian Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) because we really didn’t quite fit in the small business category, those guys went to work, rolled up their sleeves and made a difference.
“It was not just for every dealer/owner in Canada, but every dealership team member in Canada. That’s the story. It’s amazing what CADA does and a lot of dealers didn’t realize that but in 2020 they did because the CADA was there for them with the Federal Government, with the manufacturers and with health and safety support so we could be open and not be a dangerous place for our team members or our customers.”
Andrew Ojamae, Stollery’s longtime business partner and friend, praised him for his CADA service and leadership, working with Reuss to facilitate some landmark moves for dealers during COVID.
“I think the whole CADA and led by Tim and Mike had a real steady hand and took a real assertive approach, in particular in Ottawa, on behalf of the dealer community and, of course, our employees,” said Ojamae. “They were very instrumental in developing what turned into CEWS. As the (Federal Government) was developing it, the CADA was involved in the discussions and making sure the car dealers were included in those small business categories, so that we could continue to support and employ our staff.”
